Ways to Prevent Opiate Tolerance

Have you or someone you love become tolerant to opiates? This can occur quite easily whether the medication has been prescribed for you or you are using these types of drugs illicitly. Maybe you injured yourself and the doctor has prescribed a drug such as oxycodone for the pain. It helps decrease the pain but over time it can lead to a tolerance of the opiate. You need to understand how you can prevent an opiate tolerance, if you don’t over time prolonged use of this drug can become deadly and you could overdose or wind up with an addiction to the drug. Tolerance is defined as needing more and more of the drug to achieve the same results. According to a survey completed by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2010 there was approximately 2.4 million people who abused prescription drugs for the first time, which equates to about 6, 600 people per day. So how do you prevent opiate tolerance?

Taking opiates very sparingly can help you prevent tolerance.

A key factor in preventing the tolerance of opiates is to be sure there is a plan in place to rotate the opiate. It can be supplemented or rotated with medications that will assist in easing the pain if this is something that has been prescribed for you. By doing this you reduce the chances of developing a tolerance to this drug. It becomes more tolerable and manageable in the long run.

If you are using the drug recreationally some people have a tendency to take a “break” from using it, therefore decreasing their tolerance. It has been reported that some people can take a break of up to 6 months at a time. There is a risk when they start using again, if they go back to the dosage they were using before it could put their health at great risk. This typically occurs as their body is not used to it, even f it was before, it just has trouble accepting it again and using the drug could result in respiratory depression and overdose.

There are drugs available that will assist you with the prevention of tolerance of the drug. The administration of these types of drugs should only be used under direction of physician or medical clinic. As with the prevention of tolerance or addiction to any drug, you should always seek medical advise before you make any attempt to stop abusing a drug. Some of the withdrawal effects from certain drugs can be very dangerous.